


A Brief History of Latvian Figure Skating

by chaoticrandomness



Series: The World of Figure Skating [1]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Inspired by Real Events, POV Outsider
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-12
Updated: 2015-08-12
Packaged: 2018-04-14 08:53:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4558413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chaoticrandomness/pseuds/chaoticrandomness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A history of Latvian figure skating from 1994 to 2015, from the perspective of their nation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Brief History of Latvian Figure Skating

It begins with Russia, like almost everything else he can think of that's happened to him. 

 

Unlike the other examples, said Russian is a fourteen-year-old expatriate who plans to skate pairs for Latvia. 

 

(Finally, I have something beautiful. I can defeat him, and prove that I'm not just his doll. If I can surpass him in this field, they'll have to see me as something more than just a victim.) 

 

It is surprisingly easy to ignore the abuse and the times he drops her while lifting her when they come bundled with an eighth place at the Olympics and multiple Grand Prix gold medals and and a seventh place at Worlds. 

 

(There is a little part of him, deep down, that sees it as revenge.) 

 

* * *

 

 

The LSF ends up convincing a Russian coach to work with their new pairs gem. He is reluctant to hand anyone else over to that nation's hands, but he accepts. 

 

(Why should you care about Russia when everything's going to hell with them here? Besides, the woman they hired is the force behind multiple Olympic medalists.) 

 

The next season starts with three Grand Prix medals and ends with a slashed face. In between, it features mental hospitals and sane Russians and even more abuse. 

 

(He does not want Russia to steal his one chance at transcendence. Training in Russia was one thing, but having a coach from there who keeps talking about why his pair should break up immediately is another. 

 

Sacrifice is the only way to achieve pure beauty. The fact that he drops her while lifting her in practice and that he abuses her will _not_ matter when they reach the top of that podium, and he'll get there on his own merits.) 

 

* * *

 

 

The illusion that his pair is actually getting anywhere begins to shatter when half of the pair is imprisoned in a Latvian mental hospital, leaving the other half alone in Russia. 

 

(Surprisingly, most of the Russians aren't that bad. In fact, most of them are perfectly nice, and he hasn't seen her be this happy. Ever. 

 

Then again, she is Russian and it was their Russian coach's idea to imprison her partner in that mental hospital and there's that one guy who she always talks to and Russia wants her back from me... 

 

The idea that he ended up in that mental hospital because he was abusing her briefly crosses his mind, but he rapidly pushes it out.) 

 

When her partner leaves the hospital, their thoughts are exactly the same. His pair goes back to Latvia for three weeks, and his chances of defeating Russia without his help go with them. 

 

Yet everything shatters on January 9. 

 

* * *

 

 

(What makes you any different from him?! You knew everything about the abuse, and you did absolutely nothing to stop it!) 

 

He doesn't know who his thoughts constantly compare him to. As he stands in the waiting room of the hospital, all he can even think about is the fact that he's an awful person. 

 

(He told you that you were like him, right? Well, you both have the condoning abuse part down pat. As long as you achieve your goals, it doesn't matter how many people got broken or murdered along the way. 

 

You were perfectly willing to let her get battered into submission just so you could prove yourself! You are no better than your own abuser!) 

 

"Sir, I'm sorry, but who exactly are you?" a nurse asks in Latvian. 

 

"I am no one." he answers in Russian, as he passes her a note and runs back home. 

 

(The note simply says that he's sorry for everything that happened to her. But she'll never read it.) 

 

* * *

 

 

She gets out of the hospital two months later, and begins to skate for Russia with the man she was close to.

 

(He refuses to watch anyone else. They are there to prevent him from making this mistake again.) 

 

His pair finishes twentieth at the next world championships, and everything goes back to normal. In the next few years, Elena Berezhnaya wins two World championships and one Olympics with her new partner and everyone assumes that he cheers for her out of latent Russian nationalism.

 

(He's actually cheering for her because she's risen so far above what happened to her. And he will not hesitate to punch Canada in the face.) 

 

* * *

 

In 2011, he hosts a Junior Grand Prix, the first one that'll have every skater filmed and their videos posted online for the world to see. 

 

(It's surprisingly fun to watch the buds and see who'll blossom into beautiful flowers. His skaters finish near the bottom, but he doesn't care.) 

 

In 2013, he hosts another Junior Grand Prix event and expects the same thing to happen to his skaters. 

 

(Except someone gets into the top ten. Deniss Vasiljevs lands a triple-triple combination in his freeskate and moves up seven slots, finishing seventh at his home event.)

 

* * *

 

 

Nothing horrible is happening to Vasiljevs. It is perfectly safe for him to watch his programs and cheer him on without worrying about being complicit in abuse. While the rest of the world is focused on 2014, he turns to his juniors and 2018. 

 

(They've all got a bright future ahead of them. He's sure of that.) 

 

The Olympics pass and scandal brews, but he's more focused on the upcoming Junior World Championships. Vasiljevs finishes eight, ahead of skaters from America and China and Canada, lands triple lutz-triple toeloop and triple salchow-triple salchow combinations in his programs, and enables the LSF to send two men to this competition next year. 

 

(No one else did as well as him, but one of the girls did attempt a triple lutz in her freeskate. She fell on it, but at least she tried.) 

 

* * *

 

 

The girl who attempted the lutz in her freeskate in 2014 finishes seventh at both of her Junior Grand Prix events, and lands five lutzes across four programs. She also has a flip now, as well as multiple combinations with backended triples. Another girl finishes fifth at her event, and lands two triple toeloop-triple toeloop combinations and three lutzes in her programs. 

 

(He knows that jumps aren't everything, and both girls have artistic work to do. But this is a far cry from where they both used to be.) 

 

Angelina Kuchvalska moves up to the senior level in the second half of the season, and makes her debut at the 2015 European Championships. She finishes seventh after moving up ten spots with her freeskate, and grabs the world's attention. 

 

(No one can say this time that he's cheering out of Russian nationalism. She is not an expatriate, and he is not turning a blind eye to any abuse.) 

 

In Tallinn, Vasiljevs finishes seventh despite an eight-place finish in both programs. Diana Nikitina debuts at the World Junior Championships, and finishes tenth. This time, he can send two skaters in both of their disciplines, and he wonders if this has ever happened to him before.

 

(It probably hasn't. But it will happen again.

 

The other boy he sent didn't qualify for the freeskate, but he did attempt a triple lutz. Even in times of darkness, there're always silver linings somewhere.) 

 

* * *

 

 

Angelina Kuchvalska has been invited to the French Grand Prix event after finishing sixteenth at the 2015 World Championships and being ranked tenth in the world. Diana Nitikina and Deniss Vasiljevs are competing in the Junior Grand Prix he's hosting in Latvia, along with several others who are making their international debut. 

 

There are interviews and fandoms springing up around Kuchvalska and Vasiljevs and his skaters in general. Nikitina is attempting triple lutz-triple toeloop and triple flip-triple toeloop combinations, and there are rumors of American expatriates. 

 

(I've finally made it. I'm going to build up my program step by step, and the LSF will help me. 

 

And this time, no one will be abused.) 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Everything that happened in this fic is true.


End file.
